Junger

Shoes! On a boat or even bank fishing...comfortable shoes make a world of difference.

Walking a frog with a long rod can be cumbersome and can wear you out. I use a 7'3 MagH rod for my frogging (walking and popping), but my next one will be 7'.

Super pressured area. If you see them, they probably see you and will not bite. I've had many many follows right up to the bank and they'd just turn around. Slow is the key, the water drops off pretty quickly about 8-10 feet from the bank walls and that's where they lurk. I've had good luck toward the narrow end near the north lock too along the bluff rock walls. The access is just much tougher since you have to climb down rock ledges to find a decent casting area. Bonus part of C&O canal are all the conversations you can pick up on....some of them are comedy gold when the drama llama ladies roll through. What a monster @Fried Lemons!

There's the Tatula OG (Black and Gold with foam grips) that go by model convention like TAT610MHFB, 2018 Tatula with new cork grips that go with model numbers like TTU741HRB, and the Tatula XT which have lower quality components and model numbers like TXT701MFB. To further confuse you, there are the Tatula Elite series (TAEL), which are pretty similar to the TAT & TTU Tatulas, unless you step up to the TAEL's with AGS guides.

What's your budget on the frog rod? Cabela's has the Pflueger Supreme XT for $120 shipped right now. I would get the 25x size for your rod, it's also only 6oz. https://www.cabelas.com/product/bargain-cave/fishing/reels/pc/105591780/c/105740280/sc/105742980/pflueger-supreme-xt-spin-reel/1879373.uts?slotId=8

More so out of the knot tied to the fastach. I use a Fish-N-Fool knot mostly, and the tag end sticks away from the lure so it can catch fine pieces of grass. Bobber stop helps reduce it. But nothing will stop hair algae!

Yes, however you can get them at TackleTrap for about $160 with their 10% off code, along with a free Daiwa Huk shirt promotion. Or, you can buy them used in good/great condition around $120. Some very good discussions about Magforce Z:

Better spool control, it throws lighter baits, skips/pitches better. Very noticeable difference between a CT spool and SV spool imo. And then there's even variations between SV spools as well...mind numbing. There are some SV gurus on this forum that can probably explain the exact reason better than I can.

Yes, it's a Doyo reel. I like the Curado body over the CT style bodies. On my rods where they're dedicated and I'm not changing out lure sizes/weights much, I prefer the CuradoK. But if it's a rod where I switch lures a lot, like my all around rod that I use 1/8oz to 1/2oz lures, I prefer Daiwa Magforce Z reels where all the adjustments are external. Furthermore, I prefer a Daiwa SV reel for my jig rod, where sometimes I'm skipping, pitching, or rollcasting. I adjust the brakes differently for those and the Daiwa best suits me for that. So short answer, try both centrifugal and magnetics and see which one suits you best.

I've seen people catching on topwater there when the air temp is in the 40's. There's a warm water discharge there, so 4MR is almost always fishable year round. My guess would be spinnerbaits, underspins, maybe some slow popper action. Widewater at the C&O canal always has fishable water levels. But it's about a 300 yard haul from the lot, so you'll need wheels on your yak to get it there. You can also drive up a little further and put in at Swain's Lock, which will give you access to skinny water and also the main river.

Welcome, if you have a kayak you will have access to some great water in DC. Four Mile Run, Roach's Run waterfowl Sanctuary, and all the surrounding tidal creeks.

I smoke a cigar once in a while when fishing. I was overzealous on a hookset and my left forearm went into the lit cigar...Got burned nicely on that one. I now sweep hookset all the time now.

Drop shot to keep your lure off the muck?

Same here, but I now use a rubber bobber stop (thinnest one available) above the snap (Mustad fastach), and the way the fastach is designed is it rarely catches grass because the wire faces toward the lure. I pond fish a fair amount, and there's lots of algae and this combination comes through it well.

Lots of variables, and if it's a highly pressued urban pond, they're probably skittish if it's near the bank and if you can see them they can see you. But, from my experience I get more hits on the pause with frogs.

The guys over at Tackletrap would probably know best. What specific characteristic are you looking for out of a 7'5 MH/F?

When I bank fish, I only bring one rod and I use a snap for all the presentations based on the bank area that dictates the lure. I use a mustad fastach size 1 on that rod and it works well to let me change lures on the fly. I use it for pretty much everything except Texas rigs. But if I want to fish a plastic, I either use a jig, or weighted belly EWG.

Amazon has some.

Maybe it was a bedding bass just trying to move your worm off the bed?

I wanted to take my boat out for some shad fishing, but the weather last night looked like rain in the AM and winds picking up in the afternoon, so I didn't really see a great window to be out there. I ended up going to Whetstone for a couple hours before going to Lowe's to wrap up my honey-do list. First I broke out the popper around isolated pieces of wood, but no LMB hits. It did get tugged down a couple times, but it was just some bluegill going for the tail feathers as usual. The wind picked up a little so I broke out a chartreuse/white war eagle finesse spinnerbait. I immediately picked up 2 on the same isolated piece of wood that I had just thrown a popper at. So pattern of the day, tight to wood, and spinnerbaits. Caught 5 in all, with the best just over 2lbs, a short but girthy female.

I think the only TW sale that is 20% off is Black Friday. Memorial, July 4th are 15%.

I think I’m gonna break out the popper tomorrow too!

20% off today at Overton's (exclusions for electronics, trolling motors, grills, and some other stuff). Free shipping over $99. It stacks with sale items too. Powell Inferno 7'3 MH/F is about $60. Daiwa Tatula LT (1000/2000) is $151 shipped. There are some combos on sale like the Lew's American Hero which the 20% will stack with. 20% off your order No minimum Use code DX2TC2DLG4

If it's raining, and it's under 60F, there's zero chance I go fishing. So I only have one set of toggs for spring/summer/early fall.

Going for a 10lber in RG?